my three go on pee pads inside of the house! I am a little bit leary on the balcony, I live in a condo and put up latice on the railings............. scared that they might fall off! congrats! on getting your fur child home!

I agree with Tori on the potty training and scolding issue--even more so because the puppy is from a pet store, where they receive no early potty training and are used to being around their pee/poop.

It's too difficult to have your "No!" translate into "no, I don't want you to go here, but I want you to go on this pad over there (or outside)." Your dog might be startled by your, "no!" and shy away and look "guilty", but your dog is most likely only startled by your yelling at him for doing something that felt natural to him. By the second time you catch him and say "no!" he's probably starting to think that you suddenly become angry or unhappy whenever you see him do his business, so he better make sure you're not around when he does his business. Doing it around you is scary. Now you have a dog that poops behind the sofa chair while you're watching tv or that quietly sneaks off regularly to pee in the guest bedroom or go wherever he wants when you're not home. How are you going to correct that?

Need another reason to avoid "no!"? Picture taking your dog for walks or potty outings on leash and he never pees and poops because he's holding it until he can get away from you, which he can't do because you're always 6 feet away. So the moment he gets home and the leash and harness come off, he trots off to relieve himself where he can relax--that is, not in your presence. Good luck taking him places with those potty habits!

Another reason? With "no!" training, your dog may also learn that you're a temperamental, confusing, cranky, no-fun-to-be-around person, making all forms of training more difficult. You want that bond to be as strong as possible with your puppy.

Anyway, jmm's article (posted the page or two before I think) on potty training will probably get you off to a great start!

I've always told dogs "No" when they pee or poop in the wrong spot. I have a fully trained six year old Maltese that never has any accidents and my four month old has NOT had an accident in the house for over a week (I've had her almost three weeks). Neither have a problem doing their business in front of me in the correct spot especially the younger one since she knows a treat is coming if she goes on the grass. I will not tolerate poop or pee in my house and they know it. All else is fair game. :-)

I agree with Tori on the potty training and scolding issue--even more so because the puppy is from a pet store, where they receive no early potty training and are used to being around their pee/poop.

It's too difficult to have your "No!" translate into "no, I don't want you to go here, but I want you to go on this pad over there (or outside)." Your dog might be startled by your, "no!" and shy away and look "guilty", but your dog is most likely only startled by your yelling at him for doing something that felt natural to him. By the second time you catch him and say "no!" he's probably starting to think that you suddenly become angry or unhappy whenever you see him do his business, so he better make sure you're not around when he does his business. Doing it around you is scary. Now you have a dog that poops behind the sofa chair while you're watching tv or that quietly sneaks off regularly to pee in the guest bedroom or go wherever he wants when you're not home. How are you going to correct that?

Need another reason to avoid "no!"? Picture taking your dog for walks or potty outings on leash and he never pees and poops because he's holding it until he can get away from you, which he can't do because you're always 6 feet away. So the moment he gets home and the leash and harness come off, he trots off to relieve himself where he can relax--that is, not in your presence. Good luck taking him places with those potty habits!

Another reason? With "no!" training, your dog may also learn that you're a temperamental, confusing, cranky, no-fun-to-be-around person, making all forms of training more difficult. You want that bond to be as strong as possible with your puppy.

Anyway, jmm's article (posted the page or two before I think) on potty training will probably get you off to a great start!

Good advice on the reason to avoid a loud startling NO particularly with a puppy this young. You want to always reward them for doing the right thing and don't scare them for doing what you think is wrong - they don't know what you mean and will only learn to hide it from you.

This may have already been said, so forgive me if I'm repeating anyone, but...

You know, with Bravo, when he is out and about in the house, he is attached to me or my husband with a leash to our belt/waist...this way we ALWAYS know what he's doing!!! We can interrupt an accident by saying, "not here - let's go outside!" We say it with a happy, cheerful voice....and we pick him up and carry him outside.

Also, it teaches him to "hang out" with us. It's not always about playing and being super-stimulated. Sometimes we just hang out. When he's off-leash in the house, he's in his kennel, playpen, or actively playing with one of us.

He's had a few accidents when we've not been attentive...always our fault - at this age (14 weeks) it's all about accident prevention. He'll get it....but it's a long road of supervision to get there, LOL!!! Long road!!!

He just started being able to make it from 10pm to 6am without me getting up - that was MAJOR progress.......to me, anyway!

He joined us at 11 weeks (one week earlier than normal)....so that was three weeks of getting up in the middle of the night!!! PHEW!!! Glad that's done!!

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I actually have a Papillon puppy...but I joined this message board to get great grooming, nutritional, general toy-breed tips......and all the great people!!